Kitchen Garden
From Jill & Simone
28.05.26
LA12E returned for their last week in Kitchen Garden. Thank you to Snow for the Acknowledgement of Country in Norwegian, and Noor for translating.
Outside, it was a battle against the rain, but we still managed to tackle many jobs in the garden: hundreds of snails were collected in an effort to reduce the seedlings being eaten; corn and tomato plants removed now that the weather has grown too cold for them to grown more vegetable; more wind simulation pollination for our red corn; weed suppression with cardboard from the office; another compost drum filled with green waste and lemongrass pruned and moved indoors for winter.
This week’s botanical names research project led to highly informative and entertaining presentations from the class, and ripening tomatoes were journaled by Tiffany.
29.5.26
LA12E’s last day in Kitchen Garden was making zongzi! As with the other 5/6 classes, sticky rice was cooked and a Kitchen Garden filling was made from leafy greens growing in the garden, mixed with shiitake mushrooms. It is no easy thing to learn how to fold the bamboo leaves the right way to make cones able to hold the filling, but LA12E tackled it with curiosity & enthusiasm. We ended up with lots of great parcels, ready to be steamed then eaten! It was easier the second time around making zongzi with the sweet sultana filling.
Well done LA12E! It was great to have you in Kitchen Garden.
LA13E 4.6.26:
LA13E joined us in the Kitchen Garden, our last grade 5/6 class. We started with an Acknowledgement of Country that had contributions from many people and touched on issues raised during Reconciliation Week.
We then headed outside to work in the garden. Much still needs to be done outside to prepare the beds for winter and spring plantings. Fewer snails this week, but still hundreds removed from enjoying the corn and sunflower leaves. Miles coined our snail containment boxes Snail Jail! Each week Simone relocates our snail prisoners to green spaces far away from the RWPS garden.
Compost from another of the drums was used to change the texture of the depleted soil into something more akin to a cake mix. Donated hessian sacks are being used to protect the worms and pea straw from the pigeons.
One whole perilla plant was removed & the leaves picked for making cordial next week. Also picked were vegetables for dips tomorrow & herbs to make herbal tea. After lunch, we had a herbal tea tasting session with lemon verbena, pineapple sage, mint and lemongrass. Mint and lemon verbena were equal winners in the class vote!
5.6.26
LA13E made focaccia today with dips made from ingredients in the Kitchen Garden. We had creamy warrigal greens dip, pumpkin hummus, beetroot dip and a carrot, roast tomato and cumin dip. Everyone worked really hard to make their dips taste delicious by adjusting flavours, and brainstorming ideas to find solutions to problems such as a dip being too salty, too dry or needing extra flavour.
See you next week LA13E!
Thank you as always to our volunteers: Heath & Charles, Ryall, Martina, and Maureen, and to the donors of eggshells and coffee grinds. And a very big thank you to two families who donated15 watering cans this week. Much appreciated! 💚
